2007 Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 1BDay 1B Field of 389 Brings Aussie Millions Total Entrance to 747; Richest Poker Tournament in Southern Hemisphere Set to Pay $1.5 Million Winner's Prize |
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No opening ceremonies, just straight poker, as an international field of 389 gathered in the Crown Casino's Las Vegas Room for day 1B of the 2007 Aussie Millions main event. The turnout, combined with 1A's 358, put the total starting field for the tournament at 747 players.
With a prize pool of $4,475,000, the main event payouts for the top five places were announced as follows:
first place - $1,500,000
second place - $1,000,000
third place - $700,000
fourth place - $500,000
fifth place - $400,000
Also, the biggest money bubble pop in Australian history would occur with the main event's 81st-place elimination.
Numbers aside, business progressed as usual in the Las Vegas room as play began at 11:30 a.m. with $50-$100 blinds and $20,000 starting stacks. The tournament area, spread out over three roped-off floor spaces, again attracted a massive crowd, with a good portion of the rail congregated at the feature table. The high-profile draw included Phil Ivey, arguably the most popular player from abroad (seat No. 2), Evelyn Ng (seat No. 4), Kathy Liebert (seat No. 8), and Gus Hansen (seat No. 9).
While some pros were distracted by the Patriots' upset over San Diego (most notably Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who had money on New England), all the big names survived the first two levels of play, with Kathy Liebert being the first notable bustout minutes into level three, courtesy of a Dennis Huntly straight.
Despite the "victory" on the gridiron, Matusow soon followed Liebert. "The Mouth" moved all in over the top of a Martin Comer raise, but Comer, considered by many to be the Aussie version of "The Mouth", eliminated Matusow when his pocket aces held against Matusow's A-K suited.
Comer's momentum continued as he won a boat-over-boat situation when his J
10
outdrew Tony G's Q
6 on a 10
6 6 Q J board. While Tony G survived the hit, a number of other notables dropped out of contention, including actress Shannon Elizabeth, Lee Watkinson, John Juanda, Perry Friedman, Clonie Gowen, Andy Bloch, and Erica Schoenberg, who had her ace-high flush bested by Marc Karam's rivered full house.
Nearly 75 percent of the field remained in the hunt for the $1.5 million first-place prize as play moved into level five.
Gavin Smith and Brendan Schaefer spent all of the previous four levels battling at the same table, but Schaefer eventually delivered the knockout shot when his two pair of tens and nines made a full house on the river, denying Smith his flush and straight draws.
As Dennis Huntly became the first player to crack $200,000, Ed "Bolivia" Moncada also made a strong push up the leader board in late action. The WSOP bracelet winner called an all-in preflop raise by Evelyn Ng, and added to his $115,000 stack when his pocket queens boated up against Ng's A-K offsuit.
The biggest elimination, in terms of fan attention, came late in play when railbird lightning rod Phil Ivey, short-stacked to $4,600, moved all in preflop with A 9 and an opponent, holding J J, called. The 10 4 4 7 8 board brought no help, and Ivey's Aussie Millions run ended in the final level of day 1B.
While Ivey made a late departure, no one exited play later than last year's eighth-place finisher Mark Vos. With only 30 seconds remaining on the tournament clock, Vos put his remaining short stack into the pot preflop. After a call, Vos turned over J J and his opponent showed A K. Vos's opponent paired his ace on the A Q 9 flop, and the 2 turn and K river made the FullTilt pro the last elimination of the day.
Other pros who failed to survive day 1B were Kenna James, Greg Raymer, Nenad Medic, Pat Poels, Mitch "The Hoon," and Tony G. Meanwhile, approximately 162 players, including Erick Lindgren, Freddy Bonyadi, Joe Cassidy, Jeff Madsen, Gus Hansen, Robert Mizrachi, and hometown favorite Joe Hachem advanced to the tournament's next stage.
Play resumes at 12:30 p.m., when the remaining fields from 1A and 1B (335) combine for day 2 of the 2007 Aussie Millions main event.
The top five chip counts going into day 2 are as follows:
1. Patrik Antonius - $315,400
2. Dennis Huntly - $246,200
3. James Mogan - $229,300
4. Nebil Soner - $201,400
5. Christopher Chronis - $178,100
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more news and information on the 2007 Aussie Millions.
Quote of the Day: "I didn't have to call with aces, but I figured I had good bust equity. There's so much to do in Melbourne" - Perry Friedman on why he wasn't more upset after an opponent flopped a straight, cracking Friedman's pocket aces.
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